


It looks as if we two will never be one

by pickyourselfupfred



Series: Fred and Ginger forever [42]
Category: Astaire/Rogers RPF, Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers Movies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-19
Updated: 2019-04-19
Packaged: 2020-01-16 09:44:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18518878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pickyourselfupfred/pseuds/pickyourselfupfred
Summary: Their lives in the fifties.





	It looks as if we two will never be one

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Samantha](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Samantha/gifts), [StillAintNoGood](https://archiveofourown.org/users/StillAintNoGood/gifts), [Love_by_dancing](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Love_by_dancing/gifts).



> The poem is by Ruby Redfort and is a favorite of mine.

By 1958 Ginger had signed away her fourth marriage as Jacques philandering had become too blatant to disguise. Like her other marriages he had been a kind of stop gap while she waited for the one marriage she wanted. Both she and Fred had continued making movies but in glamour obsessed Hollywood her age was beginning to work against her and little did she know that the movie she had just completed would be her last for several years. Fred had two further movies released and increasingly was being partnered with younger women. She guessed that their next pairing, if there was one, would be a long time off. With the emergence of rock and roll in the fifties their dance and music seemed anachronistic.  
Of course there had been brunches and evenings at Fred’s home, and she had come to feel real affection for Ava and this, happily, was reciprocated. By now Fred junior had fled the nest and Ava had become more self sufficient as she grew into her teens. His daughter had, in fact, joined him in Australia where he was shooting his first non singing, non dancing movie, ‘On the Beach’. For Ginger the truth was that they’d hardly had any chances to be with each overnight and Ginger missed his gentle loving.  
Soon he’d return from overseas and she resolved to find a way of being with him and having precious time alone. The opportunity presented itself sooner than she expected. Fred had written to say that Ava was having her first big adventure by travelling solo to stay with her aunt Adele in England. He thus jokily added, ‘I may just drop by and see you when I get back in a couple of month’s time.’  
She counted the hours and when she heard that familiar soft whistling through the intercom on her door she raced to welcome him.  
“Oh Fred, you don’t know how good it is to see you.”  
“You too baby, I got the first plane out when they said they didn’t need me for any more filming. The experience was great but so tiring.”  
She biffed him, “You’re slowing down old man.”  
“Wanna bet?”  
“Prove it!”  
Of course he did and it was quite wonderful to wake up in each other’s arms after so long apart.  
Next morning they chatted.  
“So what next Fred?”  
“Maybe television. I’ve an idea for a dance type show and have seen a young dancer Barrie Chase who looks as if she might be a good partner.”  
‘Oh how he can wound with words’ she thought so she replied, “Where do we go from here?”  
His face became serious  
“I don’t know how to say this.”  
“Try words,” she hissed through gritted teeth because Fred was so hesitant in so many ways.  
“Well Gin, when Phyllis died I did think of you but I also had to think of the kids, particularly Ava who adored her mom.”  
“I know and that was perfectly understandable.”  
“I always said if I were free I’d marry you but...”  
She shuddered, but was the unkindest word in the world.  
“Ava was so upset that I felt I’d have to leave my own concerns aside to care for her.”  
“Oh, I’m glad I was a concern”, she snapped.  
“No, don’t get me wrong, I would have asked then but I thought I’d wait a while till she’d come to terms with her loss.”  
“I see that but it’s been nearly four years.”  
“But...”  
That hateful word again.  
“You’ve got to know Ava really well, she thinks of you as an aunt and a friend. I don’t think she could accept you as a stepmom right now.”  
“So I’ve engineered my own isolation.”  
“No but...”she stiffened, “your divorce just came through and people might talk and say we were having an affair all along so marriage this quickly would support that.”  
“Well we were both tied but we’re not any more. We’re both free and can do what we want.”  
“Oh Gin, it’s everything – our fans, the general public, family.”  
“All of which are more important than us.”  
“No but…..”  
“Shut up”, she startled him. “I love you Fred, I will till the day I die. You haven’t changed though in all the years I’ve known you. You’ve always hesitated about making decisions and you’re so insecure about everything, you don’t want to be seen in a bad light, you want everyone to think you’re Mr Perfect.”  
“I know I am Gin, you’re absolutely right. I never feel confident about anything and I’ve ruined everything for us.”  
She knew he was really distraught and could see in him the little boy who was so anxious to please his mom and frightened that his sister was so more talented than he and he’d never come up to scratch.  
She held him tightly.  
“I’ll tell you what this means my darling. We’ll always be friends and lovers because in some strange way we were meant to be together somehow but… (she’d be hard on him now) we have to have separate lives for now, maybe for ever. We’ll always be there for each other and if we can work together or simply be loving that’ll have to do. We might end up married one day but if not let’s be content with what we have and be married in our hearts.”  
“Oh Gin, I’m so sorry,”he said.  
‘Sorry’ she thought and a poem she knew came unbidden in her head.  
‘Sticks and stones may break my bones  
But words can also hurt me.  
Sticks and stones break only skin,  
While words are ghosts that haunt me.  
Pain from words has left it’s scar  
On mind and heart that’s tender  
Cuts and bruises now have healed,  
It’s words that I remember.


End file.
